TPE for garden products

By using a TPE material, it is possible to manufacture a garden product whose improved quality appearance earns a high level of attention on the market

Using TPE for DIY garden equipment or professional garden tools attributes a clear functional benefit to your application. Wheelbarrow handles, for example, can be ergonomic and an additional product benefit generated for the user in the form of a soft-touch grip. Thanks to SOFT EST.® TPE, gardening will be even more fun in the future while also offering a strong and safe grip. SOFT EST.® makes for more pleasurable gardening and is also convincing thanks to UV-resistant materials which can easily be exposed to the sun without displaying discoloration. SOFT EST.® 3170 NC, for example, is used in the handles of garden shears, offering a dry grip accompanied by excellent non-slip properties.

Regardless of the material combination – TPE combined with metal, wood or another thermoplast – what is important is that the garden tool is durable, robust and safe to use. With our thermoplastic elastomers free of plasticizers and PVC, you will always be on the safe side and your customers can happily pursue their hobby in the garden where they can tend to their lots with your products made from our TPE. Our TPE compounds can also be processed in two-component or even 2C injection-molding. SOFT EST.® provides specific compound solutions which display outstanding adhesive properties on PP or ABS, for example, whereby we are very much aware of the fact that you operate within a market which is sensitive to prices and require efficient plastics of greater density while aiming to achieve optimum cycle times. It is against this exact background that we offer you TPE solutions for standard applications as well as for special and niche applications.

According to a survey by Statista, gardening is the most popular recreational pastime among Germans, with 30.3 percent of those surveyed regularly picking up a shovel, spade, hedge clippers, edge trimmer etc., with product durability and robustness of key importance among users, according to the Verband Deutscher Garten-Center. Good tools, therefore, are the be all and end all in the garden shed. From wheelbarrows, spades, forks and rakes through shears, buckets, yard brushes, scrubbing brushes, lawnmowers or knee pads – anything used as tools or aids to make work easier in the garden can be designed to be even more customer-friendly using SOFT EST.®.

Ergonomic TPE handles for garden products

Garden shears, for example: a pair of garden shears featuring TPE is definitely more suitable than normal shears without a rubber coating when it comes to supporting plants and shrubs or cutting flowers and branches. After all, as rose gardens increase in size and the number of cuts rises accordingly, finger joints can soon become painful. TPE overmolding on the hard component relieves pressure on joints and prevents pain.

Save space with foldable TPE applications

But also for buckets which are always useful in the garden: for carrying water or waste or even for storing things. To ensure that they do not take up too much space, buckets can be manufactured entirely from TPE, thereby generating a foldable version of the garden bucket. This saves considerable space in the garage or garden shed. Our TPE materials represent an excellent choice: they are resistant to buckling and display good recovery properties. The SOFT EST.® portfolio even includes scratch-resistant TPE variants which are particularly suitable for this.

Contact us if we have managed to arouse your interest and you are looking for a TPE plastic whose elastic properties could optimize your garden application.